Announcing Publication of "Blessed Among Women: Defending the Sublime Privileges of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Although it has taken a long enough time to do so, Blessed Among Women: Defending the Sublime Privileges of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is now available for purchase at the Create Space Bookstore. The book is also available at Amazon and in a Kindle edition. 

The book is an effort to refute several of Jorge Mario Bergoglio's unspeakably horrific blasphemies against Our Lady. Additionally, the book examines one particular instance of the Argentine Apostate's many blasphemies against the Third Person of the Most Blessed Trinity, God the Holy Ghost, under Whose Divine inspiration every word of Sacred Scripture was written. By doing this, of course, Senor Bergoglio, the lay Jesuit who is a textbook Modernist, is continuing the perverse "tradition" that was pioneered by his precessors, especially Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria/Paul VI, Karol Josef Wojtyla/John Paul II, and Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI, each of whom specialized in distorting and misrpresenting the words of Sacred Scripture and of the Fathers and Doctors of Holy Mother Church in order to make appear to be witnesses in behalf of one Modernist presupposition after another that has been enshrined by the ethos of conciliarism.

The print book costs $10.00. The Kindle edition is $9.99.

I can now return to the work of my next original article, which was delayed by all of the formatting and reformatting that the Create Space "review" process required me to do, particularly yesterday, Saturday, August 20, 2016, the Feast of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux within the Octave of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Thank you for your patience as I spent the time that was necessary to complete the book for publication. Actually, Bergoglio's relative silence this month has given me the chance to publish the book. Given Bergoglio's visit to the United States of America and his "synod" last year, to say nothing of the release of Amoris Laetitia five months ago now, it was just hard to find the time necessary to put the book together, edit it (chapter one was proofread by a volunteer to whom I am greatly indebted), uploaded it, and then deal with the formatting issues.

Our Lady of the Rosary, pray for us.

Saint Jane Fremiot de Chantal, pray for us.

ON THE FEAST OF SAINT BERNARD OF CLAIRVAUX

Well, I have completed the editing associated with my next book, which should be available for purchase by tomorrow morning, Sunday, August 21, 2016, the Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost and the Commemoration of Saint Jane Frances de Chantal. This means I can now resume work on my next original article for this site. I thank the eight remaining readers of this site for their patience in the middle of my work on the forthcoming book and during a series of events with our house that neeeded immediate attention. 

As noted by the title of this "Updates and Summary" entry, today is the Feast of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, who revived devotion to Our Lady in the Twelfth Cenutry. Here is an account of the life of this wonderful client of Our Lady, Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, a defender of the Catholic Faith and a Doctor of Holy Mother Church, as found in the readings for Matins in today’s Divine Office:

Bernard was born (in the year of salvation 1091) at a decent place in Burgundy called Fontaines. On account of extraordinary good looks, he was as a boy very much sought after by women, but he could never be turned aside from his resolution to keep chaste. To fly from these temptations of the devil, he determined at two-and-twenty years of age to enter the Monastery of Citeaux, whence the Cistercian Order took its rise. When this resolution of Bernard's became known, his brothers did all their diligence to change his purpose, but he only became the more eloquent and happy about it. Them and others he so brought over to his mind, that thirty young men entered the same Order along with him. As a monk he was so given to fasting, that as often as he had to eat, so often he seemed to be in pain. He exercised himself wonderfully in watching and prayer, and was a great lover of Christian poverty. Thus he led on earth an heavenly life, purged of all care and desire for transitory things.

He was a burning and shining light of lowliness, mercifulness, and kindness. His concentration of thought was such, that he hardly used his senses except to do good works, in which latter he acted with admirable wisdom. Thus occupied, he refused the Bishoprics of Genoa, Milan, and others, which were offered to him, declaring that he was unworthy of so high a sphere of duty. Being made Abbat of Clairvaux in 1115, he built monasteries in many places, wherein the excellent rules and discipline of Bernard long flourished. When Pope Innocent II., in 1138, restored the monastery of St Vincent and St Anastasius at Rome, Bernard set over it the Abbat who was afterwards the Supreme Pontiff Eugene III., and who is also the same to whom he addressed his book upon Consideration.

He was the author of many writings, in which it is manifest that his teaching was rather given him of God, than gained by hard work. In consequence of his high reputation for excellence, he was called by the most exalted Princes to act as arbiter of their disputes, and for this end, and to settle affairs of the Church, he often went to Italy. He was an eminent helper to Pope Innocent II., in putting down the schism of Peter Leoni, and worked to this end, both at the Courts of the Emperor and of Henry King of England, and in the Council of Pisa. He fell asleep in the Lord, (at Clairvaux, on the 20th day of August,) in the year 1153,  the sixty-third year of his age. He was famous for miracles, and Pope Alexander III. numbered him among the Saints. Pope Pius VIII., acting on the advice of the Congregation of Sacred Rites, declared and confirmed St Bernard a Doctor of the Universal Church. He also commanded that all should use the Mass and Office for him as for a Doctor, and granted perpetual yearly plenary indulgences to all who should visit Churches of the Cistercian Order upon the Feastday of this Saint. (The Divine Office, Matins, Saint Bernard of Clairvaux.)

His words below should give us great confidence in this time when we can see the convergence of the forces of Antichrist in the world and in the counterfeit church of concilairism:

Whoever you are, when you find yourself tossed by storms and tempests upon this world's raging waters, rather than walking upon firm dry land, never take your eyes from the brightness of this start lest you be overwhelmed by the storm. When the winds of temptation blow, when you run upon the rocks of disaster, look the star. Cry out to Mary! If you are cast away upon the waves of pride or ambition, of detraction or jealousy, look to the star. Cry out to Mary!! When anger, avarice, or the lusts of the flesh assail the ship of your mind, look up to Mary. When you are worried by the enormity of your sins, troubled by a confused conscience, or terrified by the horrors of the judgment to come, when you begin to drown in the bottomless pit of sorrow or sink in the abyss of despair, think of Mary.

In danger, in difficulties, think of Mary. Call upon Mary! Never let her name be absent from your lips or absent from your heart. If you would obtain the help of her prayers, do not neglect to follow the example of her conduct. If you follow her, you will not stray; if you pray to her, you need not despair. If you think of her, you will not err; sustained by her, you will never fall; protected by her, you need not fear; guided by her, you will walk without weariness. If she smiles upon you, you will succeed. You will experience in your own heart with what justice it is said And the Virgin's name was Mary.

With confidence in Our Lady and praying as many Rosaries each day as our state-in-life permits, therefore, we continue our defense of the Faith as we also seek to make reparation for our sins and those of the whole world as her consecrated slaves of her Divine Son, Christ the Kingm, through her own Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart. We bear each of the crosses of the present moment with joy and gratitude, knowing that the only thing that matters is dying in a state of Sanctifying Grace as a member of the Catholic Church, outside of which there is no salvation and without which there can be no true social order.

Our Lady seeks the conversion, not the reaffirmation, of sinners. We must beg her for our own conversion on a daily basis so that we will be better able to offer her all that we have and do during the course of a day to be disposed of as she sees fit the honor and glory of God and for the conversion of other poor sinners.

Immaculate Heart of Mary, triumph soon!

Viva Cristo Rey! Vivat Christus Rex!

Our Lady of the Rosary, pray for us.

Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, pray for us.

August 19, 2016, Update on the Feast of Saint John Eudes

As I have been busy finalizing a relatively short book for publication, which I hope will take place later today, Friday, August 19, 2016, the Feast of Saint John Eudes, the next original article on this site, which is already in development and promises to be a very long and detailed look into a certain aspect of Jorge Mario Bergoglio's ready acceptance of a certain kind of political ideology as something from which Catholics can "learn" in order to "build the better world," will not appear until Sunday, August 21, 2016, the Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost and the Commemoration of Saint Jane Frances de Chantal. 

Saint John Eudes, whose feast is celebrated today, Friday, August 19, 2016, helped to establish devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus some thirty years before the revelations that Our Lord gave to Sister Margaret Mary Alacoque. He also promoted devotion to the Holy Heart of Mary. His own priestly heart was such that he stressed the importance of priests to have the very Hearts of Jesus and Mary in the confessional, exhorting sinners to amend their lives, to be sure, but doing so with an understanding of the frailties of fallen human nature and the manner in which Our Lord wants His Mercy to be extended to the souls for whom He shed every single drop of His Most Precious Blood on the wood of the Holy Cross. Saint John Eudes will help us to trust in the tender Mercies of the Hearts of Jesus and Mary during these times of apostasy and betrayal, especially as we pray the Holy Rosary to which he was so personally devoted.

Today's Divine Office teaches about the remarkable life of this great apostle of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Most Pure Heart of Mary:

John was born in the year 1601, of pious and respectable parents, at a village commonly known as Ri, in the diocese of Seez. While still a boy, when he was fed with the bread of Angels, he cheerfully made a vow of perpetual chastity. Having been received at the College of Caen, directed by the Fathers of the Society of Jesus, he was conspicuous for a remarkable piety; and, committing himself to the protection of the Virgin Mary, when still a youth he signed with his own blood, the special covenant he had entered into with her. Having completed his courses of letters and of philosophy with great distinction, and having spurned opportunities of marriage which had been arranged for him, he enrolled himself with the Congregation of the Oratory de Bérulle, and was ordained priest at Paris. He was on fire with a marvellous love towards his neighbour: for he took the most constant pains in caring for both the souls and bodies of those smitten with the Asiatic plague, in many different places. He was made Rector of the Oratorian house at Caen, but since he had been thinking for a long time of educating suitable young men for the ministry of the Church, earnestly asking for the divine assistance, with a brave spirit he most regretfully departed from the associates with whom he had lived for twenty years.

Accordingly, associating five priests with himself, in the year 1643, on the feastday of the Annunciation of the blessed Virgin Mary, he founded a Congregation of Priests, to whom he gave the most holy names of Jesus and Mary, and opened the first seminary at Caen; and a great many others followed immediately in Normandy and Brittany, also founded by him. For the recalling of sinful women to a Christian life, he founded the Order of Our Lady of Charity; of which most noble tree, the Congregation of the Good Shepherd of Angers is a branch. Furthermore, he founded the Society of the Admirable Heart of the Mother of God, and other charitable institutions. He was the author of many excellent treatises, and laboured as an Apostolic Missionary to the very end of his life, preaching the Gospel in very many villages, towns, and cities, and even in the royal court.

His matchless zeal was very conspicuous in promoting the salutary devotion towards the most sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, whose liturgical worship he was the first of all to devise, although not without some divine inspiration. He is therefore held to be the father, the teacher, and the apostle of that worship. Courageously withstanding the doctrines of the Jansenists, he preserved unalterable obedience towards the Chair of Peter, and he constantly prayed to God, both for his enemies as well as for his brethren. Broken by so many labours, rather than by years, desiring to be freed and to be with Christ, on the 19th day of August, 1680, frequently repeating the sweet names of Jesus and Mary, he died in peace. As he became illustrious by many miracles, Pope Pius X added him to the list of the Blessed, and as he still shone forth with new signs and wonders, Pope Pius XI, in the holy year and on the day of Pentecost, placed him among the Saints, and extended his Office and Mass to the universal Church. (Matins, The Divine Office, Feast of Saint John Eudes.)

Perhaps we can, in honor of Saint John Eudes, recite this salutation of his to Our Lady, who is meant to reign as the Queen of all men and all nations here on earth:

Hail Mary! Daughter of God the Father.

Hail Mary! Mother of God the Son.

Hail Mary! Spouse of God the Holy Ghost.

Hail Mary! Temple of the Most Blessed Trinity.

Hail Mary! Pure Lily of the Effulgent Trinity. God.

Hail Mary!! Celestial Rose of the ineffable Love of God.

Hail Mary! Virgin pure and humble, of whom the King of Heaven willed to be born and with thy milk to be nourished.

Hail Mary! Virgin of Virgins.

Hail Mary! Queen of Martyrs, whose soul a sword transfixed.

Hail Mary! Lady most blessed: Unto whom all power in Heaven and earth is given.

Hail Mary! My Queen and my Mother! My Life, my sweetness and my Hope.

Hail Mary! Mother most Amiable.

Hail Mary! Mother most Admirable.

Hail Mary! Mother of Divine Love.

Hail Mary! IMMACULATE! Conceived without sin!

Hail Mary Full of Grace. The Lord is with Thee! Blessed art Thou amongst Women and Blessed is the Fruit of Thy Womb, Jesus!

Blessed be thy Spouse, St. Joseph.

Blessed be thy Father, St. Joachim.

Blessed be thy Mother, St. Anne.

Blessed be thy Guardian, St. John.

Blessed be thy Holy Angel, St. Gabriel.

Glory be to God the Father, who chose thee.

Glory be to God the Son, who loved thee.

Glory be to God the Holy Ghost, who espoused thee.

O Glorious Virgin Mary, may all men love and praise thee.

Holy Mary, Mother of God! Pray for us and bless us, now, and at death in the Name of Jesus, thy Divine Son

 

Most Pure Heart of Mary, pray for us.

 

Saint John Eudes, pray for us.

Saint Hyacinth, O.P.: A Contrast and A Rebuke To The Conciliar "Popes"

Submitted by Dr. Thomas A. D... on Wed, 08/17/2016 - 00:47

Today is the Feast of Feast of Saint Hyacinth, O.P., the great Apostle of the Northland and one of the first members of the Order of Preachers founded by Saint Dominic de Guzman. (Today is also the third day within the Octave of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Octave Day of Saint Lawrence the Deacon.) Saint Hyacinth's great zeal for souls and his desire to convert pagans out of their diabolical superstitions into the true Faith, outside of which there is no salvation and without which there can be no true social order.

Saint Hyacinth, who had such a great and abiding love for Our Lady, who favored him with apparitions, stands in quite a contrast with Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI and his successor, Jorge Mario Bergoglio/Francis. Both of these heretics have praised the very false religions that Saint Hyacinth--and every other Catholic missionary--sought to eradicate from the face of the earth by seeking the unconditional conversion of their adherents to the false religion. The difference between Saint Hyacinth's fidelity and apostasy of the conciliar "popes" stark. It is right there in black and white for all who have the grace to see. See for yourself.

As considerable time was spent adding links, including a complete library of articles that have appeared about Bergoglio on this site in the forty-one months, four days, to the preface of this revised article in order to provide readers with a useful and handy resource for those who are new to this site and want to review past articles on Jorge Mario Bergoglio, it has been impossible to add more recent examples of the endless reaffirmations that the Argentine Apostate has given to those who adhere to false religions, including Talmudism, from which he derives much of his "intellectual" and "spiritual" sustenance. In other words, "Pope Francis" is a stooge and servant of Antichrist.

The hours that it took to add links to the last twelve months of my articles about Bergoglio and his fellow fiends have kept me from completing the publication of a brief book, much delayed by one event after another, to defend the honor of Our Lady against the Argentine Apostate's blasphemies against her. It is my hope to have that ready for publication for late tomorrow night, which is why the next original commentary on this site may be pushed back by another day or two.

Finally, I ask the readers of this site to join us in offering prayers for my friend John Vennari, the editor of Catholic Family News, who has announced that he has Stage IV colon cancer. Although I have written to Mr. Vennari privately to assure him of our prayers, I do ask the readers of this site to pray to Saint Peregrine for him as well as to pray to Saint Philomena, to whom we ourselves have a special devotion, for Mr. Vennari as it is specific request that such prayers be offered to our dear Wonder Worker, Please pray for Mr. Vennari and his wife Susan and children (Elizabeth, Philomena, Benedict) at this time.

Please also remember Father Anthony Cekada, suffering from a different kind of cancer, in your daily prayers to Saint Peregrine, who gets an earful from me every day for the needs of all those I know who are suffering from cancer, which is, as some readers of this site may know, what caused my late mother's death at the age of sixty-one years, twelve days on Thursday, March 18, 1982, in Corpus Christi, Texas.

Thank you.

Our Lady of the Rosary, pray for us.

Saint Hyacinth, O.P., pray for us.

Saint Lawrence the Martyr, pray for us.

Saint Joachim: The Father of the Mother of God

Submitted by Dr. Thomas A. D... on Mon, 08/15/2016 - 23:06

Saint Joachim, the father of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God and the Mediatrix of All Graces, knew the contempt that would be visited upon His Divine Grandson, Our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, sent himself into voluntary exile after he was denounced by a priest of the Old Dispensation for not producing a child after twenty years of marriage to his wife, our good Saint Anne. He was visited by an angel, who reminded him of the fact that Abraham's wife, Sarah, did not conceive a child until she was ninety years old, telling him that his wife, Saint Anne, would conceive a daughter named Mary, who would be the Mother of God.

Saint Joachim and Saint Anne brought their daughter to the Temple when she was three years ago, giving their long-awaited child back to the good God Who had given them to her so that she could be the Mother of their own Saviour, Our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. This should teach us to do everything possible to foster vocations to the priesthood and the consecrated religious life among our children, so that we can give them back to God so as to yield a spiritual bounty of souls in His service, especially in this time of apostasy and betrayal.

As an article in Chieso Espresso indicates that Jorge Mario Bergoglio's completion of the sellout of the faithful Catholics in Red China to the Chicoms is almost complete, links to two articles are provided in in a brief preface to today's slightly revised reflection. The pending sellout should come as no surprise as "elements" of it began under "Saint John Paul" while the road map to the current surrender was charted by Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI nine years ago now. An entire chapter in "No Space Between Ratzinger and Bergoglio: So Close in Apostasy, So Far From Catholic Truth," which is based on article published in 2009 that has been updated over the years, "Red China: Workshop for the New Theology," detailed Ratzinger/Benedict's plans.

An article on this matter will follow by the end of the week.

Our Lady of the Rosary, pray for us.

Saints Joachim and Anne, pray for us!

Saint Roch, pray for us.

Saint Clare of Assisi: In the Service and at the Command of Lady Poverty

Submitted by Dr. Thomas A. D... on Mon, 08/15/2016 - 00:55

Although three days late as a result of a series of problems engendered by the pollution of our water source by a mountain of mud, black sand, and algae I present to the small readership of this site a rather long reflection on Saint Clare of Assisi. This reflection emphasizes Saint Clare’s rejection of worldliness and worldly pleasures. No matter what our own sins and failings with respect to worldliness might be now and have been in the past, Saint Clare’s life and holy example inspires us to quit the world once and for all and to prepare for the world to come by storing up treasures in Heaven that do not rust or fade away, and that no thief can take away from us.

Today’s republished reflection on the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary can be found by scrolling below, and another long-delayed project should be ready by tomorrow or Wednesday. Thank you for your patience, and please pray for the good souls of Louisiana, especially those wonderful Catholics of Acadiana, who are suffering from the ravages of the recent flooding that has devastated the southern part of the state. There are many fine fully traditional Catholics who are parishioners at Christ the King Church in Lafayette, Louisiana. Please pray for them all.

Thank you.

Our Lady, Queen Assumed into Heaven, pray for us.

Saint Clare of Assisi, pray for us.

As Our Lady Takes Her Rightful Place In Heaven

Submitted by Dr. Thomas A. D... on Mon, 08/15/2016 - 00:54

Today is the feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. She who was conceived without stain of Original Sin and who committed no Actual Sins in her life did not have to have her body undergo the corruption of the grave. Separated physically from her Divine Son after His Ascension into Heaven on Ascension Thursday, although she received Him in Holy Communion, Our Lady was Assumed body and soul into Heaven to plead for us with her Divine Son as the Queen of Heaven and of Earth, the Queen to whom every man must pledge his heart's oblation, the Queen whom every nation must honor publicly with Rosary Processions.

Our Lady wants us to be in Heaven with her for all eternity. She wants our bodies to rise up incorrupt and glorious from the grave on the Last Day at the General Judgment of the Living and Dead so that our bodies can be reunited with our souls for all eternity in the glory of Heaven. We need to ask her to help us make such perfect reparation for our sins in this passing, mortal vale of tears that we will pay the debt of what we our for our sins now rather than in the fires of Purgatory. We need to ask her to help us to be serious about seeking sanctity as the consecrated slaves of her Divine Son through her own Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart. What are we waiting for?

A blessed Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary to you all.

Our Lady, Queen Assumed into Heaven, pray for us.

As Antichrist Deceives Catholics To Maintain His Hold On Civil Power

Submitted by Dr. Thomas A. D... on Fri, 08/12/2016 - 01:34

Those of you steeped in the throes of the agitation of the moment had better not read this commentary on the electoral farce that is unfolding before our very eyes.

Those interested in viewing the world through the eyes of the true Faith, though, might find this commentary of some use.

[Late night update: Given the late (or early) hour of this posting--and the fact that we were stranded for a while this afternoon with a flat tire, a penance that had been fashioned for us from all eternity by the loving hand of God, a stand-alone reflection on Saint Clare of Assisi will be posted by late tomorrow evening. . All of the transcription for this reflection, which is based principally on her own words against worldliness, has been completed. I just have to write the narrative, which will include something of a follow-up to this article, although most of the reflection on the words of Saint Clare and the commentary of the author of the book in which they have been published.]

Our Lady of the Rosary, pray for us.

Saint Clare of Assisi, pray for us.

Saint Philomena: Our Ever Reliable Wonder Worker

Submitted by Dr. Thomas A. D... on Wed, 08/10/2016 - 23:59

This is a brief reflection, written originally in 2009, to honor our great Wonder Worker, Saint Philomena, on this her feast day, which is also the feast of Saints Tiburtius and Susanna. Although our Wonder Worker is not on the universal calendar of the Roman Rite, her cultus was confirmed by none other than Pope Saint Pius X. That's good enough for me! Jansenists and rationalists will have to find some other website to surf as this one makes no room for any skepticism about Saint Philomena and the honor and power with which she has been crowned by Our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

This reflection includes text from a 1945 book, Wonder Worker: Saint Philomena, Virgin Martyr, which was written by Cathy Hallack and published with ecclesiastical approbation of the Archdiocese of Dublin, Ireland, in 1945, which takes note of Saint Philomena's vow of virginity, which she made at eleven years of age, and mentions the fact that Diocletian was married to Prisca from 286 A.D. to the time he resigned as Roman emperor in 305 A.D. This means that Diocletian's proposal of marriage was indeed adulterous and bigamous, analogous to that of Herod the Tetrarch himself.

We are very devoted to Saint Philomena and pray the chaplet in her honor as a family every Saturday evening after Our Lady's Most Holy Rosary. I pray her chaplet every day.

It was thus very touching for us to receive Mass propers for the Wonder worker's feast from an 1898 Missal that included an entire Mass in her holy honor. This gift was sent to us by a friend of ours, one who does not agree with us concerning the true state of the Church Militant in this time of apostasy and betrayal but has not cast us out into the wilderness and down the Orwellian memory hole as lunatics These Mass propers are a tremendous treasure, one that our friend wanted us to share with true priests so that they can offer her Mass, perhaps as a votive Mass on a ferial day, in honor of our Wonder Worker, Saint Philomena. We thank our friend very much for making these propers available for those true priests who may not have had them prior to now. The link to the Mass text can be found within the body of the republished reflection below.

Yes, of course, I am still working on the election commentary, which should be completed today as I anticipate having to run no errands today, which means a full day of writing, which is what I need to complete it. Actually, the commentary is not going to offer anything new. After all, how many times and in how any ways can one state that naturalism is evil and that it is impossible to fight the evils naturalism engenders with any kind of naturalistic "solution"? Thus it is that the election commentary has been a wearying task given the fact that so many people are caught up in the diabolically inspired agitation of the moment. Nevertheless, however, I will continue to remind the few readers of this website that everything must fall apart absent Christ the King and His true Church, and there is no getting "Humpty Dumpty" back together again by promotig the sins that cry out to Heaven for vengeance under the cover of civil law and throughout the entirety of what passes for "popular culture."

Finally, I have no idea why this site was offline in "maintenance" mode most of yesterday. Neither of the two other people who have authorized access to this site's "control panel," shall we say, did so, and I did not do so. I am sorry for the inconvenience. The "maintenance mode" business was as much news to me as was to those who tried to access this site yesterday.

Our Lady of the Universal Living Rosary Association, pray for us.

Saints Tiburtius and Susanna, pray for us.

Saint Philomena the Wonder Worker, pray for us.

Saint John Mary Vianney: Serving Souls to the Point of Death

Submitted by Dr. Thomas A. D... on Mon, 08/08/2016 - 23:19

Today is the feast of Saint John Mary Vianney and the Commemoration of the Vigil of Saint Lawrence the Deacon and of Saint Romanus.

Saint John Mary Vianney is the patron of diocesan priests, a man who humbly recognized that he was not the brightest pupil, that he was, to use even his own description, slow in his studies. He had great difficulty learning his Latin. Other studies came hard to him as well. He did not give up. Helped by a wonderful mentor, Father Balley, who had worked as a carpenter during the French Revolution so as to hide his identify as a Catholic priest as he offered Mass in various hideaways and without any "communion" with the bishops and priests of the "constitutional church," John Mary Vianney persevered time and time and time again, praying to Saint John Francis Regis for help and guidance.

Yes, he was tempted to quit his studies, believing himself to unworthy of priestly ordination because of his lack of intellectual aptitude. Father Balley told him very pointedly, "You've decided to give in to the devil?" That knocked some sense into our Saint, and it should knock some sense into any young man today who might have experienced some difficulties and perhaps even gross injustices in their own pursuit of the priesthood. Never give up. We need priests, especially now in this time of apostasy and betrayal.

Always close to Our Lady, Saint John Mary Vianney was brought to the point of his priestly ordination on August 13, 1815. His superiors judged that his moral qualities had overcome any academic deficiencies that would have held others back from being ordained to the priesthood, and they were vindicated in their judgment by the long and devoted service that he gave to the people of Ars.

Oh yes, sure, he tried to run away from his people on three occasions, wanting to seek the solitude of a monastery. Each time, however, he responded to the pleas of his sheep who loved their shepherd, who spent so much time in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament and in the confessional to hear the confessions of the thousands of people who flocked from all over the world to the merits of the Most Precious Blood of Jesus applied to their souls through his priestly ministry, and returned home to Ars.

Saint John Mary Vianney, who knew failure in his studies for the priesthood, was a firm supporter of the "patron of failures," Pauline Jaricot, the foundress of Society of the Propagation of the Faith and the Universal Living Rosary Association, and zealously devoted to the cause of our great wonder worker, Saint Philomena. Saint John Mary Vianney spent himself tirelessly in behalf of the flock that was entrusted to his pastoral care. We need to invoke his intercession so that our own true bishops and priests will be fortified by his example as they seek to serve faithful Catholics, the scattering and wandering sheep of this time of apostasy and betrayal, unto eternity.

Work continues on my final commentary on the farce of naturalism until the first debate next month. There is nothing really new to say that I have not said before. However, I am doing my best to make various points in a clear and cogent manner so that those who can rise above the passions of the moment can see the world clearly through the eyes of the Catholic Faith, not through the hysteria engendered by naturalism.

Our Lady of the Rosary, pray for is.

Saint John Mary Vianney, the Cure of Ars, pray for us.

Saint Lawrence the Deacon, pray for us.

Saint Romanus, pray for us.

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